We had an '89 Caravan SE. 4-cylinder, crank windows, but it did have a cassette player (a little too early for CDs), and oddly, the rear-most side windows were electric even though all the others were manual.
Uber luxurious! Our 2019 Odyssey is the first van of three we’ve owned that have moving windows in the sliding doors. Electric, of course. Fixed windows behind the front row were always OK. The only time we open the windows is at a drive through. We pay tolls with EZ Pass, now anyway.
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One reason he could order the car that way was that is was built in Kentucky, USA.
Prior to Honda building Accords in Ohio, Toyota building Corollas in California and so on, Japanese cars were built in Japan to a spec… base, mid or up-level… and shipped to the US. The supply lines were just too long for special order cars so radio, AC and fancy wheel options were dealer installed.
The Camry was US built so the delivery time eliminated 6 weeks at sea and more option choices were available.
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Those windows opened outwards about an inch, our 1988 Grand Voyager had hand crank 3rd row windows that you turned a knob just behind the driver’s seat for each side window when you wanted them open or closed. 1989 you could get power windows for the way back, 2nd row you just unlatched and opened. Easier to get just the options you wanted in those days.
I remember the cable operated side vent windows, it was a rare feature, most Caravan/Voyagers had lever action vent windows like a compact car.
They didn’t offer much fresh air either way, but dad always liked being able to close the window’s from his seat. The only option’s skipped on that van were a upgraded radio and the woodgrain on the side.
If I recall, you had to get the top-tier LE model to get the wood grain. Personally, that would have been an argument not to get the LE model. 
The trick with the rear vent windows was to open the driver’s side knee ram air vent when you opened the rear windows. You could get a pretty good breeze flowing through doing that.
When I ordered my '81 Citation 2-door, there was an option of cable-operated rear side windows, so I opted for that feature. It turned out to unavailable when my car was produced, and my rear passengers had to endure no opening windows in the rear, which made for a very cheap-feeling experience.
I’m not positive, but I don’t think that GM ever made that listed option available. If it never saw the light of day, it was probably because not that many 2-door X-cars were sold, or maybe there was a problem with the design of this option that prevented them from being able to produce it.
My dad’s company started leasing minivans in the mid-late 80’s, previously you could get a mid-size American sedan ( Chevy Celebrity, Dodge 600, Ford Taurus, Olds Cutlass Ciera or Buick Century), usually the base trim, but with a few options ( AC, optional engine if available, and the wider tire option if available), if you wanted a nicer trim or optional equipment, you could have it, but you had the pay the difference in the leasing costs). Typically the leases ran for 2 or 3 years or 75k miles, whichever came first. Dad was impressed with the Dodge Caravan and campaigned hard to get minivans added to the list of company car choices. Eventually enough people demanded it, so the company made the U.S made minivans ( Caravan, Astro, and Aerostar) choices. In 1988, Dad’s 1986 Buick was ready to get to turned in, he ordered a 1988 Dodge Caravan SE, but he checked every option box available, It was basically an LE trim van without the fake wood paneling ; it had the overhead console, it had the “nice” AM/FM cassette, it had the full instrumentation, it had the 3.0L Mitsubishi engine, power window/locks,etc. The thinking was that it he would buy it out once the lease was done and from that point on it would become the family hauler. Which is exactly what happened. And honestly, it was the best family car we ever had. Mom drove it until the mid 90’s and it was sold, still running fine, with about 260k miles on the clock. The only repair I ever remember it having was a replacement radiator. Exceptionally reliable vehicle.
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This may be the first time I’ve ever seen"Dodge caravan" and “reliable” in the same post.
My daughter’s 2006 Dodge Caravan, 270,000 miles, no major repairs. I have a 2005 Town and Country with 260,000 miles. Replaced steering rack. All other work has been routine. (Brakes, tie rod ends, ball joints and the like).
The first gen ones (84-90) were very reliable with the Mitsubishi built 2.6L I4 and later 3.0L V6. The best combo probably being the 3 speed auto with the 3.0L in terms of reliability. The 4 speed “Ultra-Drive” transmission (introduced in 1989) wasn’t very reliable though. After than it was mostly downhill in terms of reliability. What amazes me about the first gen Chrysler minivans was how little they weighed; barely over 3000 pounds. A modern Civic weighs about the same.
The tranny’s we’re redesign in 2001. The results were good. I don’t know what the fix was, but back when I was looking I wouldn’t consider one older than a 2001 because of the tranny.
I was working for a GM division when the Citation came out. Our general manager wanted to take one home “as delivered” like any customer would get it. It was a 2-door with the cable operated rear windows. He broke the driver’s side on the way home. His assessment of the rest of the car wasn’t much better.
I never saw another X-car with that option and we had a lot of them in the fleet for a few years.
IOn The LE it was a no cost option, i’ve seen one SE from this era with the wood but you had to pay extra for it. The friend that had a '84 Caravan and loved it ordered an early 89with the woodgrain and untradrive transmission. He got rid of that van within a couple years and went back to Toyota’s. Still see them around town and they have a RX300 and an Avalon.
I must not have known that because I can’t imagine paying extra money for a sticker that looks like plastic wood.
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Had to look it up because I didn’t think it was possible to order but someone did. It wasn’t really something my parents felt was needed and were spending enough at around $16,000. LE’s were closer to $18,000 loaded. Small town dealer that was selling out every week ordered ours for us with almost $1,000 off.
Good luck with getting an electronics and options free car these days. The last car I had that had crank down windows was our 1988 Mustang LX. It had a 5.0 liter V-8, 4 speed overdrive automatic and locking rear diff. It was a stealth Mustang GT and had the larger wider tires and stiffer suspension. But there were NO plastic body cladding, fog-lights, spoiler, airbags, or anti-lock brakes. It DID have electric locks, cruise control, manual reclining cloth seats, manual A/C, and was rated to tow 3,500 lbs, which used with a little boat.